PHILADELPHIA, PA — Marlon Hodges, also known as “Michael Stewart,” a 50-year-old Jamaican national, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday to one count of illegal reentry after deportation. Acting United States Attorney Nelson S.T. Thayer Jr. announced the plea, which took place before United States District Court Judge Anita B. Brody.
Hodges was initially deported from the United States in 2016 following a criminal conviction. Authorities became aware of his reentry in February 2023. On March 6, 2024, federal agents from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Border Enforcement Security Task Force conducted an enforcement operation to locate him.
Investigators observed Hodges leaving a residence on the 5500 block of Walton Avenue in Philadelphia and walking to a nearby store on South 56th Street. When agents approached him inside the store, Hodges confirmed his identity but did not present identification. A search revealed a fraudulent Pennsylvania driver’s license with his photo but under the name “Michael Stewart.” A fingerprint check confirmed he was Marlon Hodges.
Officials reviewed Hodges’ history, which included a 2005 conviction for first-degree assault in Orange County, New York, for which he served a 14-year prison sentence. He was subsequently ordered removed from the United States in January 2006. Hodges was deported to Jamaica in April 2016 under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) supervision. He reentered the United States at an unknown location and time.
Hodges is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27. The case was investigated by HSI’s Border Enforcement Security Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney S. Chandler Harris.
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